Characteristics Of A Poem

Poems are literary compositions that have their own branch in literature, this branch is called "poetics" and its expression is generally carried out in verse, but it can also be exhibited in prose. Poetry has been divided into five genres, three main and two secondary.

Main genres of poetry

• Epic
• Lyrical
• Dramatic

Secondary genres of poetry

• Satirical
• Didactic

Main topics

Poetry exposes various aspects of human nature such as:

• Love
• Joy
• Melancholia
• Death
• Hate
• Courage
• Revenge
• Lifetime

Thus poetry can contain rhyme, verse, rhythm, stanzas, genre etc.

Characteristics of a poem:

1.- Rhyme:

Rhyme is a figure of speech that focuses on the morphological elements of words.

It consists of similarities or the phenomenon of homophony, which can be classified as a type of alliteration (echo in English). It is based on the repetition of phonemes when using the metric or rhythm.

2.- Verse:

The verse consists of the union of a series of words that are placed according to rules that accommodate the rhythm and by the meter, and the verse does not always coincide with a single metric unit but can vary depending on the poetic literary genre.

The verse obeys different principles which produces that there are different verses such as the free verse, the verse of major art and the verse of minor art among others.

3.- Verse:

The stanza is itself the subway which is the syllabic measure used for poetic versesThus the verse is formed of stanzas that are grouped verses which are adjusted to the meter that are the set of syllables.

This definition corresponds only to Spanish, since in other languages ​​such as Latin they are formed with the “foot”, Which is formed by the duration and quantity of the vowels.

4.- Rhythm:

This occurs when it is repeated at various intervals on a regular basis that allow the verses and their parts to harmonize in the ear.

The rhythm is quantified by what there are various verses, which go from minor art to major art, forming when the meters (feet) are repeated periodically within the poetry.

5.- Meter:

The meter is a syllabic measure that has different names:

• Subway
• Foot
• Quantity
• Trochee
• Yampo
• Anapaest
• Dactyl
• Amphibian
• Ictus
• Ametria
• Isometry
• Polyrhythmia
• Metrics
• Caesura
• Hemistich

It is the linguistic tool with which a poem can be organized into rhythmic units "verses" that are grouped into "stanzas", which are distinguished by their number of syllables.

6.- Extension:

The length in the poems can vary a lot, in general terms it is short, but there are poems great ones that expose epic facts like the poems of Homer and short poems like the generally known.

7.- Resources:

Literary resources or poetic resources consist of different techniques or principles such as:

Metaphors (external comparison)

Symbolisms (Special Meanings)

Hyperbaton (obvious exaggeration)

Parables

Analogy

8.- Subjectivity:

Subjectivity consists of the author's own interpretation of things, which allows a certain ductility in poetry while allowing people to arrive at a personal interpretation of each poetry.

9.- Prose poetry:

Prose poetry is that which is made in the form of a spoken and written exposition, which does not form a story but which contemplates some characteristics of poetry but excluding the rhyme and the metrics.

10.- Poetry in music:

Music is one of the most common ways of looking at poetry, since basically all songs sung have a series of verses, which carry rhythm, rhyme, meter, etc.

Keep reading:

• Examples of Poems
• Love Poems